White Dipped Basket With A Twist

About

You Will Need (5 things)

Steps (7 steps, 35 minutes)

1. 1

   The before basket, and honestly I liked it this way. I really like that it has lighter and darker tones.

2. 2

   I used some masking tape to put a line on the basket in order to contain the paint and to get a nice clean line. I sort of haphazardly put the masking tape on the basket about 2/3 up. I sort of like how it is not exactly symmetrical.

3. 3

   Ok, I hope I am not too late jumping on the Annie Sloan band wagon, am I? A few months ago I was driving by a small shopping center in town and noticed a sign for Annie Sloan chalk paint. I really had never done any research on the paint and I was clueless on what it was. A couple weeks ago I stopped into their store and I kid you not, my life was changed forever.

   This paint is amazing!!

   It is totally worth every penny. I already have a few projects lined up to use this chalk paint on.
   The chalk paint is so easy to work with and it can be applied to pretty much any surface, including laminate. It doesn't even need to be primed first! WOW!

   To apply the paint, I dipped just the tip of the paint brush in the paint as to just get a little paint on it. I then brushed back and forth and up and down, to get the paint evenly coated on the basket. I painted a little bit over the tape so that I would have a nice clean straight line once I removed the tape.
   After the paint was done drying I did use some Annie Sloan wax to give it a nice finish. To add the wax to a project you can either brush it on or use a rag to apply it. I used a clean cotton cloth to apply the wax. I got a little bit of wax on the cloth and began to rub it onto the basket. I then took a different clean cotton cloth to remove any access wax that the paint did not pick up. The wax really gave it a nice finished sheen.

4. 4

   Here is what it looks like after I used the chalk paint and wax. It looks great and technically you could stop here. But I went a step further.

5. 5

   I headed out to my local Joanns and found some fabric that I liked. Ironically it is outdoor canvas, but for this project it still worked really well. One word of caution when picking a fabric for this project. The sides of my basket were pretty flat, meaning there wasn't too much of a curve on the sides of the basket. If you are using a basket that is quite round it will be tricky getting the fabric to lay flat. One way of solving this problem is to choose a fabric that is more stretchy. That way it will hug the basket easier. Also having smaller stripes of fabric will help it to lay flatter.

6. 6

   I first decided on how wide I wanted to make the fabric. Once I decided on that, I used my iron to iron down the edges along the entire piece of fabric so that I would have a nice clean edge on both side. It was like making a giant piece of bias tape. See picture below.

   Next, I used some Fusible Velcro. The fusible Velcro was so easy to use and since its fusible it is a no sew Velcro, YAY! I was surprised at how well the Velcro adhered to the fabric. To use the Velcro, cut it to the desired size. Place each Velcro piece in its desired spot and place a hot iron on top for a few seconds until the Velcro bonds to the material (read the back of the package for exact heating times and temperature).
   Make sure you measure and mark exactly where you want the Velcro to go before you iron it. This stuff sticks very well to the fabric. If you have to take the Velcro off because you measured wrong, it wont stick again. I am totally not speaking from experience.... You will need a new piece of Velcro.

   When adding the Velcro to your fabric, one piece of the Velcro goes on the front or right side of the fabric. The other piece of Velcro goes on the back or wrong side of the fabric. See my picture below. For this project it doesn't really matter which piece you put on the front or back.

7. 7

   Once I measured right and I got my Velcro successful ironed on, I wrapped it around my basket and voila! I really like this basket because I can keep it plain white if I want. I can even change out the fabric if I decide I want another color. It is so versatile.